Missing Persons Case

Listening to the broadcast announcement, Chen Mochuan couldn't help but marvel at the astonishing efficiency of Principal Wang.

Less than half an hour had passed since he left the office, and not only was the certificate already mounted on the wall, but a school-wide broadcast announcement had also been arranged.

Since the lunch break hadn't fully ended yet, this round of broadcasting undoubtedly woke up many students who were taking a nap, and it quickly spread the news to every corner of the campus.

In front of the honor wall on the first floor of the teaching building, a large number of students attracted by the broadcast had already gathered.

They crowded around the brand-new certificate of honor, pointing at its contents and discussing it with varying expressions.

"Wisdom and courage in both, guarding the peace"... is that really not an exaggeration?"

"Chen Mochuan? I know him. Isn't he that student in the key class whose Blood-Qi Value was never high? He didn't even break 3 during the monthly exam. Does he really have the ability to deal with a Ferocious Beast? Could there be some inside story behind this honor?"

Within the crowd, there were always a few people harboring jealousy who couldn't help but make sour, sarcastic remarks and raise doubts.

But most students were still simple and upright; seeing a fellow student receive an honor, many felt a sense of shared pride.

"The official seal of the Municipal Public Security Bureau is on it. How could this be fake?"

"The review process for municipal-level individual honors is very strict. I heard that before, when people discovered traces of Ferocious Beasts and reported them, they only got some prize money and internal commendations. Being able to receive this honor means Chen Mochuan must have played a key role!"

Lu Ren stood on the periphery of the crowd with a gloomy face. He didn't participate in the surrounding discussion, but his eyes were fixed on the glaring red certificate on the honor wall, his expression growing increasingly ugly.

After the failure of his previous challenge, he had come to view Chen Mochuan as a thorn in his side. Every recognition and honor the other party received felt like a needle pricking his heart.

"Hmph, it's just good luck... In the end, he's still that bottom-feeder from the key class. The midterm exam is in half a month. When the time comes to show real ability, he will naturally reveal his true colors."

Comforting himself with these thoughts, Lu Ren stopped looking at the honor wall that made him feel so agitated and turned to leave.

The students in the key class discovered that Chen Mochuan, who was at the center of the discussion among the teachers and students of No. 8 High School due to the commendation, didn't seem to be affected at all. He continued to study and train with his usual steady and grounded demeanor, showing no signs of complacency or restlessness.

Since the person involved didn't show any special behavior, as time passed, the students in the key class naturally stopped paying excessive attention to the commendation.

Only the "Advanced Individual for Bravery" certificate on the honor wall remained hanging in the most prominent position, silently highlighting this honor. Occasionally, someone passing by would still be unable to resist taking a look.

After receiving the total of ten thousand yuan in prize money issued by the police station and the school, the balance in Chen Mochuan's bank card exceeded eighteen thousand yuan. This was undoubtedly the largest amount of disposable funds he had possessed since coming to this world.

Because his Blood-Qi had grown significantly over the past half-month, two Blood Qi Supplements a day could no longer satisfy his increasing cultivation needs.

With more money on hand, he naturally turned his attention to martial arts cultivation resources with better effects.

There were many resources better than Blood Qi Supplements for assisting in martial arts cultivation. Among them, the most cost-effective one at his current stage was the "Wuzheng Blood Essence Agent" launched by "Wuzheng Pharmaceutical".

The Blood-Qi gain effect brought by one "Wuzheng Blood Essence Agent" was roughly equivalent to three or four Blood Qi Supplements, making it undoubtedly the superior choice.

However, reality quickly extinguished his expectations. Even though the cost-effectiveness of the "Wuzheng Blood Essence Agent" was already high among similar products, its box (10 vials) cost as much as fifteen thousand yuan due to its characteristic of being more easily absorbed by the human body.

The eighteen thousand-plus yuan in Chen Mochuan's pocket was barely enough to buy one box.

After weighing his options repeatedly, and considering the need to keep some money for emergencies and to ensure long-term sustainability, he had to settle for the next best thing: increasing his daily intake of ordinary Blood Qi Supplements to five every two days.

In this way, he could still afford it and didn't need to worry about a "supply shortage" crisis for the time being.

But after this incident, his desire for a stable source of income became even stronger.

Assisting the police team this time was purely an accidental event, and it came with significant risks; it was definitely not the norm.

As a student, the most reliable way to make money he could think of was to work hard to improve his grade ranking, thereby obtaining more generous martial arts subsidies and scholarships from the school.

If he could break into the top 10 in the grade, in addition to basic Blood Qi Supplements, the school would also award other precious martial arts resources. Whether used for his own cultivation or sold for cash, both were good choices.

Of course, the premise for all of this was the continuous improvement of his own strength.

Thus, in the days that followed, Chen Mochuan devoted himself even more wholeheartedly to his martial arts cultivation, continuing his regular life of school, Mingxin Martial Arts Hall, and home.

To outsiders, it might seem boring, but he could perceive every bit of his progress through the Golden Light Screen at any time, and he remained tireless in his efforts.

Due to consuming the Boiling Blood Beast meat jerky, Chen Mochuan's Blood-Qi surged significantly. While his strength increased greatly, a slight lack of coordination in his body control also appeared.

He spent some time through hard fist training and stance training to perfectly regain control over his enhanced strength.

In the few days after the incident with the Broken-Legged Ferocious Rat, he also paid extra attention to the local news in Antu City, but he did not find any follow-up reports about the escaped rat.

Without definite news, he had no way of knowing whether the Ferocious Beast had been caught or if the police had deliberately suppressed the news to avoid causing panic among the citizens.

But regardless, this matter no longer had anything to do with Chen Mochuan. During this time, he remained focused and was steadily improving his martial arts cultivation.

With the improvement of his strength, his ranking points on the Heaven Martial Battle Net also gradually climbed, reaching a high of 992 points, just one step away from ranking up.

Although he later encountered consecutive losses and his points fell back, he was currently able to stabilize at around 980 points.

At this score range, with his Fourth-Rank Martial Artist level of Blood-Qi, the opponents he was matched against were almost all Fifth-Rank or even Sixth-Rank martial artists, and the battles became exceptionally difficult.

Despite this, he was still able to trade blows with these opponents whose Blood-Qi was higher than his own by relying on his exquisite martial arts techniques, maintaining a win rate of around fifty percent.

It was foreseeable that as long as he continued to work hard, his promotion to the Bronze rank was only a matter of time.

Just when Chen Mochuan thought life would continue to move forward peacefully as usual, a piece of morning news broadcast on television the day before the midterm exam caught his attention.

"The following is an important warning notice issued by the city police."

The news anchor's expression was slightly grave.

"Over the past half-month, there have been multiple cases of missing teenagers in our city. According to preliminary investigations by the police, it is judged that these cases have similar methods of operation and may be related."